Signs Of Affection
by soulache
Summary: We do have eachother. Spixie
1. The Strangely Comforting Hug

_**The Strangely Comforting Hug**_

It wasn't the way The Jackal had imagined placing his hands upon The Wounded Blond One for the first time. In fact, at that moment he had not even been putting those thoughts into the universe. She was just a girl who had caused him a lot of grief, but she too was grieving at that moment. She was grieving for her sister, and her lost love, and a few things Spinelli was sure he didn't know about.

Maxie had started to tear up at a rather inconvenient time, considering the killer could be lurking just outside the door. The Jackal had a weakness for tears though, with wanting to make the pain subside, not to mention he had a gargantuan thing for blonds.

"Not so long ago my mom used to hold me, and then Coop, and Georgie. And now, I mean..." Spinelli watched as one of the strongest, toughest girls he knew turned into a scared little girl.

He sat down next to here, unsure if she was requesting solace in the form of human contact, or just rambling as he so often did himself. Spinelli took a deep breath, and then as if attempting his first jump off the high dive, jumped into the hug.

The Jackal couldn't help but notice the fragility of the bones that made her, the narrowness of her sparrow shoulders. She could be easily broken, and part of him hoped she never would be. Spinelli wasn't foolish enough to think that he could ever protect someone like Maxie, but then he felt her tiny hand grasp his forearm through his bulky jacket.

Maxie was holding onto him.

He smelt her perfume, or body lotion, or whatever it was that made girls smell so deliciously unattainable. Her beautiful blond hair brushed softly against his cheek, and mentally he sighed a little. Unsure of what to do he patted her back awkwardly.

She hopped out of his arms suddenly, as if realizing where she was and who was holding her. Spinelli refused to acknowledge the pang of sudden disappointment and let her go. He continued to sit on the bed, trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Thanks, Spinelli. That was strangely comforting," Maxie said as she pulled her sweater tight against her body.

Strangely comforting, Spinelli thought, that was one way to describe it.


	2. The Bubble Violating Kiss

**The Bubble Violating Kiss**

One moment The Jackal had been reassuring his now somewhat friend Maxie that finding Georgie's killer was very important to him, and the next minute his bubble had been shattered by the sweetest pair of lips he had never wanted to taste.

Being stuck in a car with Maxie Jones was not exactly Spinelli's dictionary depiction of fun, and while he had imagined the night ending with both of them being pushed to the point of killing one another, he had never thought the night would entail a kiss that would change everything.

He had been talking, and she had just grabbed him without any warning and planted her lips on his. At this point Spinelli would've been reassuring himself that he was having a complete break from reality if his brain had been able to work at all.

Maxie's lips tasted like cinnamon as they worked over his. They were as soft as a spring breeze, but they were moving and taking. Spinelli's hand rose without any thought, his fingers itching to get lost in her hair. However he didn't move, afraid to touch her or to give her any reason to stop, and his hand ended up grabbing at his beanie.

It seemed as if he had arrived, where he did not know, but he had arrived. He hadn't even known he was on a journey, and he hadn't known he had been waiting, but something told him that he was here now. Part of him wanted to go back to before he had the knowledge of her kiss and power, but a much bigger part knew there would be no going back. Just as he decided to enjoy the moment and his lips cautiously began to dance with hers, she pushed off of him.

"Uh. Yes, Officer?" Maxie questioned looking out her window.

Spinelli's brain scrambled to process what had just happened. The kiss that was too good to be true was in fact too good to be true. It was a sham, a ruse, a trick. Blinking dumbly Spinelli watched as Maxie talked to the Officer.

"What're you kids up to?" Officer Obvious questioned, flashing his too bright light in Spinelli's starstruck eyes.

"We were just... discussing our homework," Maxie said with a girlish laugh.

"Uh," Spinelli stuttered, knowing it was time to play his part. "F-fuh-fundamental forces. Gravitation. The, uhm, attractive influence that all objects have on each other..." Spinelli's brain shut down and went to a place where he could no longer feel the embarrassment of this moment, though he was horribly aware he was still speaking.

"Get home safely," the Officer said and the bright light went away.

"Rest assured, Keeper Of The Night," Spinelli said and finally the cop left them alone.

"Well, that was a break. Had that been a cop that knew me, he would've had so many questions," Maxie said completely ignoring the fact that she had turned his world, and maybe even the whole universe upside down with her actions. "What's your problem?"

"Have, have, have you been partaking of medicinal herb?" Spinelli stuttered out. "You, you violated my... bubble."

The argument carried on, and Spinelli had to admit his heart wasn't really in it when every so often he could taste cinnamon. She insisted that she had just saved them from being found out, and Spinelli was trying to get over the feeling of being used so... thoroughly, and enjoying it.

Soon the conversation faded and Spinelli tried to retreat into a fantasy world where everything would make sense again. In his mind he pictured himself standing under a street lamp, and that's when she came. Maxie. The fog twirled around her, and the low gleam of the light reflected off her face beautifully. Spinelli quickly shook himself back to reality, disgusted with himself.

She had violated his bubble all right, and now there was no place left to hide.


	3. A MisUnderstanding Touch

**An (Mis)Understanding Touch**

Trying to recover from the slight humiliation of confusing his fantasy with reality, Spinelli headed for the comfort of his laptop with Maxie trailing hotly on his heels. He flipped it open and tried his hardest to ignore The Wounded Blond One's presence as she hovered above his shoulder, but she was never one to be ignored.

"Wow! Logan's medical records! I can't believe you hacked into the hospital's computer!" Maxie exclaimed in a whisper-shout.

"Federal offense, Blond One. If you announce it a little louder perhaps the authorities will hear you," Spinelli said, clapping his hands anxiously and looking around them.

"No one heard me. What's your problem?" Maxie asked, picking up on the fact that he had been more impatient with her than unusual.

Spinelli wanted to tell her that the problem, in fact, was her. The problem was the Conniving Kiss she had planted upon his unsuspecting lips. The problem was how she leaned so close, and had no respect for his bubble. The problem was her invading his reality, fantasy, and dreams.

"You know, it's just... Look, when The Jackal is in the zone, working on a case... with my new PI license-"

"This isn't an official case, and you're not even a real PI yet," Maxie interrupted his feeble attempts to perhaps impress her with his knowledge of all things PI.

"We're on a search for the killer of your wise and compassionate sister, who secretly and inexplicably had f-fe-feelings for me. Why I could've inspired such devotion may forever remain beyond my comprehension, but-"

"Is it so hard for you to believe that someone could love you?" Maxie question somewhat bluntly. His heart picked up pace at her words, despite the bored tone they were spoken in. Spinelli fought the emotions warring inside of him before he trusted himself to speak once more.

"Look, I-I-I agreed to help you find the person who took her from us. And the thought that she suffered at the hands of the Crabby Commando of all people is-"

"I get it," Maxie said as she placed her hand upon his shoulder. She patted him much like the night that he had first hugged her, as if she was almost unsure of her actions. Spinelli couldn't help it when a shiver ran down his spine and his shoulder went towards his ears, as if he touch was too much to handle, which for The Jackal was pretty factual. Clearing his throat, he shook himself back to the task at hand, trying to ignore the tingling where she had touched him.

"Uhm. Okay! So you thought the killer had a, you thought the killer had a distinctively sweet smell?" Spinelli questioned, too aware of the rising and dropping pitch of his voice.

After a brief conversation on the drug and Dr. Devlin's description, Spinelli went to work briefly. Suddenly Maxie was leaning over him, and when Spinelli inhaled he got a heady dose of her scent. He could feel where every part of her body was touching his and suddenly this was too much.

Jumping up out of his chair, almost knocking Maxie backwards, he couldn't help the strangled noises that crawled up from his throat. He was panicked and it completely, and totally showed.

"I can't do this! I-I c-can't do this anymore," Spinelli said. "Reminder: personal bubble." Spinelli gestured wildly with his hands indicating the walls of the bubble which she kept breaking into.

"What?!" Maxie exclaimed in a mixture of anger, confusion and maybe even hurt.

"My- You – Invading my personal bubble. I can't concentrate!" Spinelli bunched his fist by his eye feeling like he'd love to smack himself in his head. Can't concentrate? Understatement of the year.

"You hacked into the safe at the MetroCourt when you were surrounded by armed mercenaries who were shooting at people and threatening to blow the place up, and you're telling me I'm breaking your concentration just by standing next to you?" Maxie asked getting in his face. "I know what's going on here."

Spinelli's heart was going to beat out of his chest. Oh God, oh God... she knew. He was dead. She knew that he harbored a ridiculous, hopeless crush on her.

"You do?" Spinelli managed to choke out.

"Yeah. Well, it's pretty obvious. You're not doing a very good job at hiding it."

"No. The Jackal – look, The Jackal is not like other men. Uh, a-a pronounced lack of socialization at an early age left me with erratic and unconventional personal interaction. Okay? Whatever you think you may have gleaned from my -"

"I think you pretty much hate my guts," Maxie said and Spinelli's stomach flipped unpleasantly.

"Oh," he managed. The Jackal couldn't believe The Wounded Blond One would think that true.

"And I think you resent the hell out of the fact that I forced you into helping me by threatening violence. But you know what, Spinelli?" She asked without giving him a chance to form a one word answer. "I don't really give a damn because this is my sister we're talking about. And I don't care how I make you feel, or how uncomfortable you are around me. You're stuck with me. Because until I'm positive we've found the real killer, I'm going to be the first person you see in the morning and the last person you see at night before you go to sleep. And if you can't deal with that? Tough."

It was an amazing speech really. It didn't have any of the stuttering or wild gesticulations that Spinelli's had possessed. And if he had been listening he's sure he would've been stunned at her determination and fierceness. But if he were to be honest he was still stuck on the fact that she thought he hated her, and how it somehow made him feel as though she had hurt his feelings.

And suddenly that touch that she gave him to provide solace from the rain abandoned him, and he was left once again to face the storm alone.


End file.
